The paper focuses on the concepts of identity and lifestyle that have been little used to date in housing research. It is argued that identity is forged through social interaction, but this has both an agency and a structural dimension that can be considered together. The concept of categorical identity is important here as it helps to bridge the two dimensions. The concept has been used to analyse some categories such as age, but has not been systematically applied to the residential environment. The paper will point out some ways in which it can be applied.
The paper examines the potential of identity and lifestyle for housing research by focusing on studies of the meaning of home. It is argued that existing work is very partial, in that it has explored the spectrum of meanings without looking at levels of importance or of differences between individuals and groups of people. The paper shows a way forward by relating the residential environment to wider aspects of identity and lifestyle. What is the place of the “home” or “neighbourhood” in different people’s lives? How does it relate to their other identities and their lifestyle? It is argued that there are not always general answers that can be uncovered for these questions. Research emphasis needs to be placed on the search for differences in these identities and lifestyles and the construction of appropriate typologies. A lot can be learned from the consumption categories that are used in market research.
Finally, the paper puts forward a research agenda for using the concepts of identity and lifestyle in order to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between people and their residential environment.

Workshop 3. Session 3.3: Expression and taste
Abstract: Dwelling has boundaries, filters from the inside to the outside. The facade, the skin of the dwelling, is a sensitive part of the house. It has many functions to fulfill: the face of the home as a face to the public, the physical filter and the psychological membrane of the home as well. This article discusses the complexity of the facade as a mediator between the home and the city, the private and the public.

Workshop 4. Session 4.1: Design and modernity
Abstract: Within the discipline of industrial design engineering “dfx” is a common abbreviation for “design for x”, in which the “x” refers to several goals like sustainability (dfs), assembly (dfa), disabled (dfd), etcetera. As more industrial design engineers are employed within the Faculty for Architecture in Delft, especially at the chair for Product Development, the frames of thinking of industrial design engineers are gradually introduced in this faculty. With respect to living environments, the architect regards the house in the first place as a building, while an industrial design engineer tends to regard a house as an industrial product. In the research project “Concept House” both disciplines meet each other, leading to challenging discussions on the subject of living. From the point of view of industrial design engineers the design of a house would be translated to “design for inhabiting” or “design for living” (dfl). The house itself would be regarded as “just another” product with a complex system of functionalities which will realize together the main function which can be defined as “living”.

Workshop 4. Session 4.3: Place and identity, home in exile
Abstract. This essay gives a short description of three different theories that can be used to explain the
relationship between identity and the physical environment: social identity theory, place-identity theory,
and identity process theory. The place-identity theory has given a positive contribution to the field of
psychology, emphasizing the influence of the physical environment on identity. But there is little research to support the theory, and its details are not seen in relation to other psychological identity theories. Despite mainstream psychology‘s ignorance of the physical environment, processes described in social identity theory and identity process theory can also be used explaining the relationship between identity and place. It is also argued that if a general identity theory is used and further developed to explain the place-related aspects of identity, it can unite and broaden knowledge within both environmental and mainstream psychology

Workshop 2. Session 2.2: Functions and users
Abstract: Since suburbanisation has become a mass movement in post-war America, a debate is going on about the effects of suburban life on people and society in general. On the one hand suburbs have a reputation of being dull and anonymous areas where private life is extremely dominant. Robert Putnam for instance claims they strongly contribute to the loss of social capital in the western world. On the other had there is a group of academics who in search for the ‘truth about suburban life’ found residents heavily engaged in their local community. In recent suburban research in the Netherlands traces of both viewpoints where found. However this paper will argue that suburban life cannot be seen as completely atomised nor exceptionally cohesive. Instead it represents a new form of local bonding in the form of ‘local community light’. Especially suburbs show how the relationship between people and place has changed over the past decades. Through a time where place did not seem to matter at all, it has regained importance in the form of the home territory. This locale, extending itself around the private property of the house, is the place people feel completely their own and will defend at all costs. In sustaining the order and control of the residents rely on each other, but generally stay distant. However when the collective home territory is at stake residential organisations get into action. The paper presents the concept of territorial ties and show how they have evolved and which part they play in current suburban areas. The focus lies on the early years of suburban settlements, the so-called pioneering stages. A comparison will be made between the 25 year old new town of Almere and a new Amsterdam suburban area called IJburg. There are both interesting similarities and differences that highlight the rise of the home territory and local community light.

Workshop 2. Session 2.2: Functions and users
Abstract: The meaning of dwelling has been studied from many different perspectives such as psychology, phenomenology, sociology and environment behavior studies. Several authors have argued that a more integrative and interdisciplinary approach is needed in which physical, socio-cultural, psychological and economic dimensions are interrelated. However, in many of these studies dwelling is mainly treated as such. What is lacking is an approach in which dwelling is considered as integral part of environment-behavior relations. An ecological approach offers such a perspective. An ecological approach focuses on the individual’s ongoing transactions with meaningful features of the environment; it emphasizes the intentionality of individual’s actions. The reciprocity of the environment and the individual is a central feature of an ecological approach, and it may be studied at different levels of organization. For instance, a dwelling is an individual’s primary anchor in the environment. It may serve many functions such as shelter, privacy, security, control, and status. From an ecological point of view the meaning of dwellings lies in these functional relations between human beings and their dwellings. At a different level, a neighborhood park is a suitable arrangement of features that may also serve functions at a collective level, such as running and playing, walking the dog, and social contacting. In the paper the conceptual and methodological framework for studying the meaning of dwelling from an ecological perspective will be presented. The framework will be illustrated with examples from recent research on the meaning of dwelling in the Netherlands.